First things first: JournalIXM by IXM Hakuhodo accepts and offers modest compensation for unsolicited short essays. We also publish short comic strips and reflections set to illustration. 

While we prefer pieces that deal with creativity and the creative industries, we remain generally open in terms of theme. Send in something tender, angry, sad, that has depth, and that speaks of how it is to be human in this world. Let’s see.

Submit in pdf with a short bionote at shark.maitland-smith@hakuhodoph.com.

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If you’ve been following JournalIXM by IXM Hakuhodo over these past months, you’ve probably gotten a sense of where we want to bring this little project.

We’ve showcased a few of the talents from the IXM Hakuhodo army of creatives. This is how we think, how we write, how we make art, given a sandbox to play around in. We travel and reimagine the demigods of old and read about stoicism and cry over wrestlers and their fathers. We dig deep and question our relationship with our work and the great machine upon which it is built; we talk about the target market not merely as consumers of products, but as human beings with their own struggles and stories. This is us, understanding culture and Filipino psyche.

We’ve also published work from some of the most prominent Filipino writers alive— Palanca Hall of Famers, emerging stars in the literary world, esteemed essayists whose works appear not only here but abroad. These people align with us in the belief: We need a space, a center of gravity, that publishes thoughtful and thought-provoking pieces that interrogate the Filipino creative mind. We’ve looked West for far too long. We, too, have things to say. It’s high time for us to have a space to be heard.

And we’ve only just begun. We’re still cooking up a few things— a way for the public to get to know IXM Hakuhodo better, and to build a space for creatives that is at once more elevated and yet more inclusive. We’re still evolving, and are constantly brainstorming new ideas— not only as regards topics or featured creatives, but as regards form, and the mechanisms through which we publish. We might expand outside of text-heavy material at some point. Everything’s on the table. There are ideas, tons of them, because if there’s anything that we at IXM Hakuhodo never run out of, it’s ideas.

See you at the next drop.

– Mikael de Lara Co, Editor-in-Chief, Journalixm and Head of Copy, IXM Hakuhodo